#bergen_county

She smiles and enters the house. "Yes, sir. And sorry, that was kind of abrupt of me. I hope you're doing well?"

"I am thank you Oh, the college administration has given me pause now and then but they came around to my way of thinking. So well enough. . I miss Zane, of course" He motions her to a chair that's troll sized at the kitchen table "Marsha is out with your mother I think. Lord knows doing what. Can I get you a drink?"

"Oh, um...yes, thanks, something like soda or juice, I'm not picky."

"Ah, here we are, orange juice for two" He gets two glasses pours ,and joins her, "I should ask you if everything is okay with YOUR family? I thought they were, but if there is trouble?"

"Oh! They're fine! Yes, we're all good. Well...I mean..." she takes a sip of her juice. "I'm good, but I do have a problem, and I was talking about it with Dirk, and he gave me a kind of an amazing idea, and it has to do with you."

His eyebrows shoot up in curiosuity "Well, THIS sounds interesting."

"I think so, yeah. So...I've got this situation with my Participation in Government teacher...." And she explains the whole thing...the poor grades...the mockery...the grudge that Grant has against her mother...and she shares with him the most recent paper and his snarky margin notes.

Satyrs are not trolls, they're not stoic, and the professor may sleep with the upperclassmen of the student body regularly, but he seems to find this, THIS, a moral offense, "That's horrid! That's an absolute betrayal of an educator's purpose. To punish the son for the sins of the father , or in this case: the daughter for the sins of the mother is barbarism, but to add to that petty envy for you having a successful media career at this young an age... why it's that sort of mean spirited, small minded, insecure spite that risks turning away bright young minds from learning! "

"Well, yeah! I mean...I mean, it's not like there were sins-of-the-mother going on in the first place but, yeah!" She's encouraged by his enthusiasm. "So, um, Dirk suggested that it's not smart to meet him on his battlefield when I can clobber him on mine. And that's where you come in...." And she lays out the plan for a podcast. "...something like...like talking about current events stuff in a way that won't put teens to sleep, you know? I mean, you know this stuff a LOT better than I do, but I have questions, and I think I've got smart questions, and...it could be a conversation."

"mmm" he says. calming a bit "I'm not particularly socially media savvy," The satyr chuckles "Remote teaching was an experience back a year ago. But I suppose if you handle that side of it? Yes, that might work" He ponders "Of course, in fairness, I would ask to review the work he graded for myself"

She nods, but bites her lip, her momentum interrupted. "I...yes, sir. It's...I mean I think it's good, and so does Dirk...but I guess you might think it's stupid." She reaches for her backpack. "I've got them here. The first one that caused the whole mess, and the others since."

She offers over the papers.

"This will be a bit" He takes them, and reads over them. Fighting the urge to pull out a pen and make comments himself

He looks over it, methodically, arches a brow at one or two things, but nods a great deal. Then frowns as he reads the comments left by the teacher

"Yes, sir." She sits quietly, sipping her juice, and trying to be patient. She's a troll...she can do patient.

He flips to the next one as soon as he's done with the first, offering no repreive from her wait

Then the next, nodding at something

then finally, FINALLY, he puts them down, "Do you want a detailed analysis of your papers, or prefer a summary of my opinion?"

She shifts, mentally bracing herself. "Um. I think...I'd like a summary, but I could also use specific feedback after that, if you don't mind?"

"My summary? your work leans towards the simplistic masquerading under flourish but the core of it is strong, well researched, and .. most of all, dead on target. You were cheated a full letter grade. And frankly, THIS is a lot better than some college or even sophomore students at my college do. Be warned, some of my students papers make me want to lob a copy of Strunk's Elements of Style at their apathetic foreheads so the bar isn't as high as it should be. However, your Mr. Grant is acting with great immaturity, and worse: he's just flat out wrong in his attempted corrections. I've seen better teachers than him get fired."

The first part has her worried, but the rest...her eyes get wider. "I...um...thank you, sir...?"

"Don't thank me, grading is 30% of how my time is spent." A beat "Paperwork for the Admins so they know I'm grading is closer to 40%. This is merely my professional evaluation. You earned that evaluation by virtue of this work. I am neither gildling the lily nor down playing the accomplishment. I save my theatricality for when I'm talking to the class to keep them invested. If you want a college reccomendation from me, you have it. Potentional should not be ignored. "

A startled blink. "Um...that wasn't what I...I mean...uh...really?"

"Oh yes," He lowers his glasses, "Really. Why are you so surprised? "

She frowns thoughtfully and takes the papers back. "Because...I mean...it's just stuff I wrote. it's not, like, college stuff. And I mean...my grades in everything are okay but not like what you're saying. Not...college-y."

"collegiate" he corrects "And no, it's not. But it's damned fine for a Senior in high school, and that's why you GO to college, to improve yourself, to hone high school potential into collegiate expertise. If it was already at that level, if you already knew it all, why ever should I be paid? "

A brief laugh, then a deep breath. "Okay, so...so you think I've got something to say, and you're willing to help me say it?"

"Forgive me, my dear, but according to Zane, you ALWAYS have something to say- and you're usually right, which he always found a bit annoying. Now you go plan out an interview for this.. podcast thing. You're going to have to make it easy on me so I am putting most of that work in your hands."

"That's different..." she says of Zane's comment, but then she nods at the rest. "I can do that. Let me set it up. I've got ideas. And thank you, Professor. This means a lot."

"You're welcome" He says graciously

And out she goes... a lot to think about she didn't even think she's BE thinking about

(End scene0